Serah Farron
Serah is a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII and the main protagonist in Final Fantasy XIII-2. She is Lightning's younger sister by three years, and Snow Villiers's fiancée. Lightning accuses Snow of failing to protect Serah and does not initially approve of their relationship. In Final Fantasy XIII, Serah is the first Pulse l'Cie in Cocoon and her destiny is one of the game's central plot points. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Serah sets off on a journey with Noel to find Lightning when all others believe her to be dead. In Final Fantasy Appearance and Personality "Serah is Lightning's younger sister and Snow's fiancée. Possessing an inner fortitude beyond her years, she is more than capable of making decisions on her own, whatever her somewhat overprotective sister might think. In fact, Serah spends just as much time worrying about her elder sister's well-being as Lightning does Serah's." —Booklet Description Serah is an 18-year-old girl with the same pink tint of hair that Lightning has. She ties her hair into a ponytail on the left side of her head, much like how Lightning's hair is draped over her left shoulder. Serah has blue eyes like her sister, although Serah's are a darker shade. She wears cat-shaped earrings representing NORA, a black armband on her right bicep like Lightning, red plaid pleated skirt lined with black lace, a white sleeveless dress shirt, a semi-transparent pink sweeper, an extra matching hair tie on her left wrist, black thigh-high stockings, ivory ankle boots, and a bandage on her left bicep, which she uses to cover her l'Cie brand. She eventually wears the engagement pendant she receives from Snow. Yoshinori Kitase describes Serah as "the cutest girl" in the game. According to Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-, Serah is a straight-A student and one of her favorite subjects is history. Serah is depicted as mature and wise, deeply caring for those around her. Despite the grave circumstances, she stays positive and believes in a better future as long as she has her friends by her side. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Now 21 years old, Serah wears a revealing, form-fitting dress of white, reddish-pink, and gold. Her dress consists of a white top, pink sections on the front and back connecting the top to the skirt over black shorts, cut-out sides at the waist, criss-crossing pink straps on the sides of her torso, two straps that go over her shoulders into a cross-back shape, a storage pack on her right hip that hangs from her waist, pink and black thigh-high leggings, and purple ankle boots. Serah retains her earrings and engagement necklace, and also wears a pink choker, short pink sleeves under gray gloves, and two gold armbands, one on each arm, one in the shape of a bird that rests on her left bicep, where her l'Cie brand used to be. Similar to Lightning's use of a gunblade that can switch between gun and sword, Serah wields a bowsword, though its true form is that of her new moogle companion, Mog. The symbol on the front of Serah's dress is also on Lightning's shield. In addition, Etro script is written on both symbols, the blades of Serah's weapon, the back of her dress under the symbol of Etro's throne, and her storage pack. The script on Serah's outfit translates to: Witness to Times Forgotten -- Restorer of Lines Disjointed. In the three years that have passed, Serah retains her strong and caring personality, showing concern for Noel's well-being, sometimes offering him words of advice and encouragement, and willing to look out for him as he does for her. Serah is now a grade school teacher, and according to her students, she is strict and has a short temper; she does not tolerate tardiness or misbehavior of any kind, and can be scary when angered, which earned her the nickname "Meanie Miss Farron." Serah says that she is strict because her own teacher was strict, and that "Lightning must have also rubbed off on her". In the Sunleth Waterscape 400 AF, she uses her experience as a teacher to scare a pack of destructive Miniflan back in line. As noted by Snow in Episode Zero -Promise- and later by Noel, Serah resembles Lightning whenever mad or serious, appearing nice at first but can become intimidating in an instant. Serah also shows that she can hold her own in battle, with or without Noel, despite not having much prior experience in combat. Downloadable Content Outfits Serah has several alternate outfits released as part of downloadable content. "Summoner's Garb" was released on January 10th, 2012 in Japan and came as pre-order content in some countries and on March 16th, 2012 appeared as fully downloadable content; "Beachwear" was released on February 21st, 2012, in Asia and on February 28th, 2012, it was available worldwide; "N7 Armor", costume based on Mass Effect 3'ss N7 armor appeared on the net on March 27th, 2012, in Asia and the US, and the next worldwide; "Style and Steel", which was designed by Yuko Oshima, was downloadable from April 10th, 2012. "Style and Steel" is the only free DLC for Final Fantasy XIII-2. A White Mage costume was released on May 15th, 2012. 'Story' Early Life Serah was born three years after her elder sister, Lightning, and looks up to her as she is her guardian, since their parents died when the sisters were young. Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise "Look. Branded by Pulse. I'm a l'Cie. Enemy of Cocoon. Danger to us all." —Serah to Snow Serah was planning to attend the university in Eden when she fell in love with Snow during her summer vacation, much to her sister's dismay. Serah was interested in studying history, and the local landmark, the Bodhum Vestige, got her attention. One day, Serah found a door leading inside the Vestige and ventured into the ruins where she was chosen by the Pulse fal'Cie, Anima, that was entombed inside the Vestige. Serah had a dream of transforming into Ragnarok and destroying Cocoon, but initially did not realize it was her Focus. Four days later, Serah tells Snow she had been branded a Pulse l'Cie, but Snow refuses to abandon her and offers to aid her in figuring out her Focus. Two days later, Serah meets Vanille and tells Vanille about her nightmare of destroying the world. Since it was her fault Serah was made a l'Cie, Vanille apologizes but Serah, not knowing of Vanille's involvement, does not understand. On the next day, Serah goes out with Snow to find a birthday present for Lightning and later they attend the fireworks festival where Snow proposes to her, which she accepts. On Lightning's birthday, Serah and Snow tell Lightning about her becoming a l'Cie, and their engagement, but Lightning believes Serah is lying as an excuse to marry Snow. Serah and Snow attempt to seek the council of the fal'Cie in the Bodhum Vestige, but since PSICOM has discovered the fal'Cie the town has been quarantined and the Vestige is off-limits. While riding on an aero bike Serah jumps onto a ledge on the Vestige and becomes trapped by a silver liquid substance that pulls her into the Vestige as the fal'Cie's prisoner. Final Fantasy XIII "You can save us. Protect us all. Save Cocoon." —Serah to Lightning During the Purge, both Lightning and Snow make their way through the Hanging Edge to the Vestige to save Serah. Lightning finds her unconscious outside Anima's Throne, and Serah awakens. Serah tells Lightning to save Cocoon and crystallizes, leaving behind a crystal tear for Snow. Snow believes Serah will eventually awaken, but Lightning believes her to be dead. After the party is turned into l'Cie themselves, the Vestige falls into Lake Bresha, crystallizing it on impact. When the others find her, Serah has become part of the crystallized lake. Lightning, Vanille, Hope and Sazh abandon Snow, who stays behind to try and free Serah. She is brought aboard the Lindblum along with Snow when he is captured by Fang and Cid Raines's troops. On the Palamecia, Barthandelus tells the group Serah's Focus was to "assemble the tools for Cocoon's destruction", or lure them inside the Vestige to be branded l'Cie. This cripples Snow, who until that point had believed their Focus was to save Cocoon just as Serah asked. After meeting Cid Raines and observing him entering crystal stasis despite going against his Focus, Snow's spirits rise and he vows to follow Serah's wish to save Cocoon. In the Sulyya Springs, Vanille reveals to Snow Serah saw the same dream of Ragnarok they did - meaning Barthandelus must have lied to the group about Serah's Focus - and reasons that Serah beat her Focus. In Oerba, Barthandelus uses Serah's guise to try and trick the party into turning into Ragnarok, but they see through the illusion. As the party goes through Eden, Barthandelus tells them he is holding Serah and Sazh's son Dajh hostage. In Orphan's Cradle, Barthandelus destroys an illusion of the crystallized Serah to unnerve Snow and Lightning. After Orphan is destroyed and Vanille and Fang sacrifice themselves to keep Cocoon from crashing into Gran Pulse, Serah wakes up from her crystal sleep and reunites with Snow and Lightning. Serah forgives Lightning for not believing her, and Snow begins to plan for their wedding, with Lightning congratulating the pair. Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i "Um, Snow.. .Do you think I'd make a good teacher? Yeah. We don't have schools yet, or even homes, but there're so many kids here. They'll need schools and teachers, right? I want to teach them about the world, tell them the things they have to know. Like why Cocoon fell, and what happened to us..." —Serah to Snow Serah and Snow talk about rebuilding on Gran Pulse and saving Vanille and Fang. Serah asks Vanille what she is dreaming about within the crystal pillar, revealing she knows about Snow staying with her at Lake Bresha since he carried her crystal tear, enabling her to hear him and see what he saw. Serah theorizes the dreams people have in crystal stasis vary since Dajh told her about his dream of playing with chocobos. Serah decides to become a school teacher and educate children on why Cocoon fell. She wants to tell them their side of the story, and help them grow up into adults who can think for themselves. Shortly after, she discovers Lightning is nowhere to be seen. Final Fantasy XIII-2 "The truth is, I didn't want to let her go. I'd come so far to find her, I was afraid to lose her again. But I had to be strong, for her sake. She had her own battles ahead of her. So I swallowed the words I wanted to say and hid my fear. It was the hardest thing I ever did." —Serah about Lightning Due to the corrupted timeline and Lightning being removed from history, only Serah remembers the original course of events. Two years after Lightning's disappearance, having yet to marry, Serah and Snow live together in the village of New Bodhum. Serah has learned to use magic and works as a grade school teacher. One day, Snow leaves to search for Lightning, but a year goes by and Serah never hears back from him. One night, Serah has a dream about Lightning fighting a mysterious man within a strange world. A crystal meteor crashes outside of New Bodhum, and the town is ravaged by monsters. Serah is saved by Noel Kreiss, a boy she saw in her dream. He gives her a moogle that can transform into a weapon and says Mog is a gift from Lightning, who now resides in Valhalla, and that she has asked him to bring Serah there. The meteor is actually a Time Gate and the next day, Serah and Noel search the town for an artefact to activate it. Serah, Mog, and Noel enter the Time Gate and travel through the Historia Crux, the crossroads of the time continuum, coming out in the Bresha Ruins at 5 AF. The ruins are affected by a paradox that causes a giant monster known as Atlas to appear in the area. With the help of an Academy scientist, Alyssa Zaidelle, Serah and Noel solve the paradox and the Bresha Ruins are restored. While activating another gate in the area, Serah has a vision of Ragnarok crystallizing Cocoon but hides this from Noel. Their next destination, Yaschas Massif 10 AF, is darkened by a solar eclipse due to a paradox. They meet Hope Estheim who tells them a tribe of Farseers ruled by a seeress used to live in the ruins and the seeress named Yeul had the ability to see the future and foretold the nation's destruction. Hope shows them the Oracle Drive, which shows grainy images of Lightning in Valhalla. Hope believes the paradox affecting the area is also affecting the Oracle Drive, and gives Serah and Noel an artefact to help them resolve the problem. After taking a gate to Oerba 200 AF, Serah, Mog and Noel find another Oracle Drive at an old schoolhouse that projects various images of Serah's reunion with Lightning. They are interrupted by Caius Ballad and Yeul, with Serah recognizing Caius as the man she saw battling Lightning in her dream. Yeul stops Caius from killing them, and warns them that changing the future also changes the past. With the paradox in Oerba solved, Serah, Noel and Mog return to Yaschas Massif in 1X AF, an alternate reality in which the eclipse never occurred and Hope never met them. Yeul appears and gives Serah a cryptic message, saying they are the same in how they can 'show others the way'. Serah and Noel repeat their introduction to Hope who shows the now clear images of Lightning in Valhalla with the Oracle Drive. The Oracle Drive shows images of Cocoon falling at Caius's hand, and Noel says Cocoon fell centuries before his birth, and the world fell into ruin. Serah says they must change the future and Hope decides to help them with everything he and the Academy do in the present time. Serah and Noel use the gate in the Pass of Paddra and emerge in the Void Beyond. As Serah begins to doubt of them ever finding Lightning, Noel reassures they are one step closer to Lightning with each Time Gate they pass through. Traveling to the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF, Serah clutches her head in pain and recites Yeul's prophecy about Cocoon's fall as though possessed. She has a vision of Snow about to be killed by a giant flan. Serah finds Snow half-conscious, Noel comes to their aid, and they fight off the flan together. As the monstrous flan reforms itself after its defeat, Serah pulls a resistant Snow to safety. She introduces Noel and Snow to each other before explaining to the latter why they are there. Snow says Lightning appeared to him in a dream telling him to protect Cocoon's crystal pillar from the giant flan and Serah and Noel decide to help him by resolving the paradox that makes the flan grow. After Noel and Serah defeat the faeryl in Archylte Steppe and stop Royal Ripeness from growing, they return to the Sunleth Waterscape and find Snow nowhere in sight despite his promise to wait for them. They find him struggling in front of the giant flan and after defeating it for good, Noel yells at Snow for being reckless. After Snow entrusts Serah's safety to Noel he disappears as the paradox affecting the area has been resolved, but Serah notices a Pulse l'Cie brand on his arm before he fades away. Noel theorizes Snow asked to become a l'Cie to protect people. Serah decides it is her turn to save Snow and make sure they meet again someday. Back in the Void Beyond, Noel asks if Serah has had any more dreams and explains the Farseer tribes had a girl with the same appearance and power who is always called Yeul. In Academia 400 AF, Serah, Noel and Mog witness numerous citizens transform into Cie'th. They are confronted by what appears to be Caius, who threatens to kill them for tampering with the timeline. Caius says they were killed as a result of learning a forbidden history sealed within a tower two hundred years in the past and have now appeared before him alive, a paradox in itself. Serah and Noel find Yeul under attack by Cie'th. After dispatching the Cie'th, Noel holds Yeul in his arms and Serah despairs, because her and Noel's actions have determined the fallen Yeul's fate. Yeul dies and leaves behind an artefact that enables Noel, Serah, and Mog to use a nearby Time Gate. Yeul said Caius wasn't in the city, leading Serah to wonder if she and Noel met an imposter. In Augusta Tower, 200 years before the events at Academia, Noel and Serah learn Hope had created a Proto fal'Cie to keep Cocoon airborne without its pillar. They meet an artificial duplicate of Alyssa and learn that Hope, Alyssa, and other scientists were killed in the tower 187 years ago at 13 AF, and duplicates of them were created to hide the truth. On the tower's top level they find Yeul, who gives them an artefact and implores them to protect time. She reveals Caius is an immortal Guardian and retains memory of all timeline events and says Lightning disappeared because the future had changed and if Serah and Noel solve the paradoxes the past will return to how Serah remembers it. Yeul tells them the Caius from Academia was a deception made by a sentient machine within the tower, then implores they show her a new future. Noel, Mog and Serah enter a battle against the Proto fal'Cie Adam who keeps reviving itself whenever defeated. Serah charges Adam while shouting at Hope about his machines "driving her nuts" and just before she impales Adam's crystal, the fal'Cie disappears into thin air. Serah has another vision of the future and blacks out. Through the next Time Gate, they emerge into an alternate Academia in 4XX AF where the city is peaceful and the Proto fal'Cie was never created. They meet Hope and Alyssa and learn Hope scrapped the idea for the Proto fal'Cie after seeing Serah yelling at him through the Oracle Drive. Hope had devised the New Cocoon Project before he and Alyssa went into the future in a time capsule he invented. Hope explains his man-made Cocoon will be made airborne through the use of Graviton Cores. After bringing Hope the cores needed, Alyssa gives Serah and Noel an artefact to open a new gate in the city. Promising to meet Hope and Alyssa again in the future, Serah, Noel and Mog enter the Historia Crux but get separated. Manipulated by Caius, Alyssa gave a booby-trapped artefact to Noel and Serah, betraying them to save herself from disappearing due to being a paradox herself. Caius uses the Time Gate to separate Serah from Noel into different areas of the Void Beyond, with Mog's soul removed from his body. Finding several apparitions of Yeul, Serah learns she is a seeress chosen by Etro and how on the Day of Ragnarok the goddess released her and the others from crystal stasis. The last Yeul warns Serah that she brings herself closer to death the more she changes the timeline before transforming into Caius who reveals it was the miracle Etro gave to Serah and the others that condemned Yeul. Caius stabs Serah through her back, spilling chaos from her body. Serah awakens in New Bodhum wearing her old clothes, surrounded by NORA. When she finds Snow, he claims Lightning never disappeared and has been living with them ever since they got married. Serah finds Lightning on the pier who says that Serah changed history, making it possible for her to come back. Serah almost believes her but remembers the real Lightning is fighting in Valhalla and needs her help, and that she can't abandon Noel and her friends. Serah refuses to comply and Lightning is engulfed in chaos. Vanille and Fang contact Serah as they are all trapped in a dream, and help Serah escape her dream world by opening a portal where Serah can find Noel. Serah emerges in a desolate world under a red sky and finds him, but he does not acknowledge her. Realizing she is in Noel's dream, Serah follows him as he interacts with Caius and Yeul along, and witnesses a duel between Noel and Caius where the latter emerges the victor, and sees Yeul die in Noel's arms, leaving him all alone. As he is being pulled off the ground towards a light in the sky, Serah grabs hold of his arm and he remembers her. Noel tells Serah if they change history in a big way it will cost Serah her life, but Serah chooses to continue onwards as it is what Lightning wants, and if they fix the timeline quick enough she won't have to see the future for long. Mog's soul is freed from the Void Beyond and he brings new information from Lightning about Caius. Caius used to be a Pulse l'Cie tasked with the Focus of protecting Yeul and was saved by Etro and made immortal, watching over the seeresses for centuries, and is using his knowledge of their visions to warp the timeline as he pleases. They come out of a spacetime distortion into New Bodhum at 700 AF that is now a wasteland. Serah opens a portal on the beach, and Lightning emerges before them, saying they are in a future she failed to save. After Lightning explains everything to them, Serah theorizes Caius's plan is to turn the world into a timeless world like Valhalla. Lightning says they will need to go to the year 500 AF where Caius plans to destroy both the old and new Cocoons. She has Mog reveal a new Time Gate and as Lightning leaves, Serah asks if they will be together once everything is over, but Lightning only says, "One thing at a time, Serah." In Academia 500 AF they fight Caius as Chaos Bahamut. Caius warns Serah that even if she saves the future, she will not survive to see it. Serah tells Caius she knows each change in the timeline threatens her life but she doesn't care. A wormhole tears open the sky and Caius flies into it, Serah, Noel and Mog following close behind. They fall out into Valhalla and engage Caius on the beach. After Noel strikes him down, Caius transforms into Jet Bahamut and fires an attack upon them and they are sent falling into an abyss of light under Valhalla's waves of chaos. Lightning saves them by pulling them towards the surface for the final battle. Afterward, Noel repeatedly refuses to obey Caius's demands to kill him. Caius stabs himself with Noel's blade and as Caius's body fades away, Serah believes he had wanted to return to Valhalla to die so he could end Yeul's cycle of rebirth. A series of gates appear throughout Valhalla and Mog says the final paradox has been resolved and he doesn't sense Lightning anywhere in Valhalla. Serah worries Caius had really killed her, but Noel reassures Lightning will be with the others since they fixed the timeline. Serah, Noel and Mog return to Gran Pulse at 500 AF, where they see the new Cocoon named Bhunivelze afloat in the sky and the gate to Valhalla close. With their journey now over, Serah thanks Noel but has another vision of the future and dies in his embrace. After her death, Serah's spirit is bound by chaos before Etro's throne in Valhalla as Lightning helplessly watches. Disembodied spirits of Yeul tell Lightning that Serah will remain with them until the end of time and fade into darkness. While Lightning mourns her sister's death, Serah's spirit appears to her on Etro's throne. Serah explains she was aware of her eventual death yet continued on her journey because she made a promise to herself she would not stop until they were together and has no regrets. Within a void full of light, Serah embraces Lightning. As she fades away, Serah asks Lightning not to forget her, and promises they will see each other again. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII In a recent interview with Famitsu magazine, Motomu Toriyama commented saying that while Lightning's journey is to save the world in thirteen days, Serah went on a journey to "save all". Lightning also meets a mysterious girl named Lumina, who bears a strong physical resemblance to her sister. 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